Mutant X: Season 4
by Princess Pinky
Summary: The Mutant X team has gone into hiding, but what happens when a familiar face mysteriously shows up to rescue them and reveals a few surprises in the process?
1. Bailey's Believe It Or Not

A/N: This is a series I've been planning for quite a while now. I cannot guarantee updates for this fic, but I'm posting the first chapter now so that I can ensure that I won't have it accidentally deleted again. I love Mutant X and I was so angry with how they decided to end the series! I had originally started this several months ago, but when my computer got restarted, all of the chapters were erased and so I put off re-writing them. I do realize that this story has the same title as another story by a fellow author, Prince Halliwell (his story is _Mutant X: Season Four_) but my storyline is completely different from his. This is my first MX fic, so please don't be too terribly harsh and I hope you'll all enjoy. Thank you. P.S. This chapter is a play on, "Ripley's Believe It Or Not." 

**4.01 _Bailey's Believe It Or Not_**

A lone bed with nothing more than a brown wool blanket, stained white sheets, and a thin pillow rested forlornly in the corner of a small room with white walls that contained a few bad patches. The carpet was an ugly, thin brownish-beige color. A small tattered wooden bedside table sat in the opposite corner of the room, with a solitary lamp that had no shade. A tiny bathroom connected to the room which contained nothing more than a toilet, a sink, a shower, and a few white towels. The mirror behind the sink had clear scratches on it and the bathroom looked as dingy as they come. Suddenly the front door of the low rate motel swung open with a eery creek and the sickly carpet near the door began to depress in various places before moving to another spot. Rustling could be heard, before the door slammed shut again and the top lock seemed to slideitself closed. Then a flash of light outlined four figures, before fading to reveal two women and two men.

"Just give me the bag," a feisty female voice hissed. Waves of golden blonde hair draped down her back and shoulders. She was slender and about five foot six inches tall, a definite feast for most anyone attracted to the feminine gender. A pair of faded blue hip huggers sat low on her hips, accentuating her tiny waist and a tight red off the shoulder top hugged her upper body and went into a loose v neckline, showing off a lot of the woman's luscious peaches and cream skin. Her dark brown eyes flashed glowing yellow with black slits for a minute, as she snatched the bag from a brunette female and fled to the tiny bathroom.

"Man, she's a witch when it's that time of the month," a taller man with short blackish hair sniped aloud.He brushed his hand over his head and flopped down on the uncomfortable bed with a thud.

The brunette set a brown grocery bag on the small wooden table next to the lamp, pulling out a bag of jerky. "Please," she snorted, "if it wasn't for us you wouldn't be here to make those snide remarks." She brushed a long strand of silky chocolate brown hair out of her face with her long, tanned, slender fingers and then snagged a piece of jerky from the bag and began to nibble at the ends of it. She walked over to the bed and sat down next to the dark haired man, shoving him out of the way to make room for herself.

"Hey!" The dark haired man tugged at the edge of the brunette's black halter top.

Her dark eyes narrowed and she pointed a finger straight at the dark haired male, a beam of searing hot light stopping right at the base of his throat. "Do that again and you'll pay," she growled.

"Have some respect, Bren," the well built blonde male defended as he walked over behind the brunette and placed her his strong hands on her tanned yet bare shoulders. "Look, we've all been through a lot this past week. Do you really want to make things worse?" He began to softly massaged the woman's shoulders and slowly moved his way along her back.

"You're choosing your girlfriend over me?" The dark haired man asked, feigning upset.

The brunette slapped the blonde's hand away at the word 'girlfriend' and jumped to her feet, her tight black pants hugging her body like a second skin.

The blonde threw a daring look towards the dark haired male, Brennan Mulwray.

Brennan shrugged his shoulders as if he hadn't a clue what the blonde, Jesse Milmartin, meant.

----

Several thousand miles away in a underground base somewhere in deserts of Nevada, a group of ten or so people were hurriedly checking highly technical machinery in a closed off glass room with several computers. Suddenly a pristine white door opened, high above the heads of the workers, and a cloaked figure entered the blinding white room with a small covered bundle in his or her arms. The figure laid a gloved finger onto a small, round blue button and then all was quiet as the figure began to speak. Unfortunately the voice of the figure had been protected with a type of microphone connected to the figure's black robe. Then there was silence.

"I may of found something," the timid voice a young man in his early twenties replied. He walked over to a large keypad and entered in a code, bringing up a large holographic map and he pointed to a small, blinking red light. "I believe it may be a faint signal from a comlink."

"I need the address," the disguised voice replied. But even the highly advanced equipment from the voice couldn't hide the faint sound of urgency in its owner's voice.

The young scientist quickly entered in another code and then the sound of a machine rumbling to life across the room was heard. The man crossed over to a large, high tech printer and ripped a sheet from the printer. "I have it here."

"Good, I'll have someone come in to collect it within a few moments. You will be rewarded for your efforts." With that, the figure pressed the blue button again and retreated back into the door from which she or he had come.

----

The sound of knuckles wrapping against the flimsy bathroom door made Shalimar Fox jump. "What?" She growled, staring at herself in the mirror. This was not what she had wanted, not at all. But to show a weakness to the people outside, her teammates that were also in trouble, well that was ever worse. She turned the cold water on and cupped her hands, ducking her head down and splashing the icy liquid onto her face. Then she grabbed one of the white towels and ran it across her face and neck. "I'll be out in a minute," she hissed as she grabbed the bag in which she'd taken from Lexa earlier and tucked it protectively under her arm before swinging open the door with inhumanly powerful force and brushing past the light elemental.

"Something wrong, Shal?"

"Leave me alone, Jess." The feral replied as she headed straight for the door. She needed to get away and fast.

"Where do you think you're going?" The electric elemental asked, stepping in front of the blonde woman.

"Is that any of your damn business?" The feral's eyes flashed dangerously.

"You can't just go gallivanting around!" The electric explained, grabbing her arm roughly.

"Who're you to stop me?" Shalimar asked threateningly, as she wrapped powerful fingers around Brennan's hand and began to constrict his fingers.

Brennan released his grip. "I just don't want you to end up getting hurt," he said with a hushed tone so that Jesse and Lexa wouldn't hear.

"Unless I get out of here, someone will," Shalimar replied as she released her grip on the elemental. "Now do you want to move or do I have to move you myself?"

"Then activate the comlink," Brennan pleaded.

"It's traceable, you know I can't do that."

"I need contact with you, your life may depend on it."

"I'm a big girl, Bren. I can take care of myself." The feral mutant grabbed for the top lock, sliding it open and then she slipped her hand around the handle.

Brennan slapped a hand over Shal's. "Take it just in case," he whispered.

Shalimar released a heavy sigh. "Fine," she gave in as she wrapped her fingers around the small ring that Brennan placed into her hand. "I'll be back later and I'd suggest that you don't wait up." With that, the blonde feral flung the door opened and escaped into the night.

Brennan closed his eyes, falling back against the door as he shut and locked it.

"Where's Shal?" It was Lexa, who'd just come out of the bathroom.

"She went out?"

"What!" Lexa's voice was a mixture of rage and panic. "She can't go out! They're all after us!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Brennan's eyes blazed. "It's not like I can just step in her way!"

"This is life or death, Brennan! Of course you could have!"

"Hey! Hey!" Jesse wedged himself between the fuming duo. "Look, I'm sure Shal will be fine. She's far from the damsel in distress. She'll be back soon. She probably just needs some fresh air."

"You better hope she comes back soon," the brunette sniped as she headed back into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Alone, Jesse and Brennan silently exchanged the expressions.

----

Shalimar rounded the corner of cheap motel, smacking right into the shoulder of a persona dressed in a black cloak. Her package went tumbling out from under her arm and falling to the ground. "Hey!" She blazed, scrambling to the ground to scrape the contents of her package back into the bag. "You better watch were you're going next time," she hissed as she pulled to her feet "Did you hear me?" She asked, turning around to face the clumsy person who'd ran into her. But the anger quickly drained from her face, as did the color. Her collision had not only caused her bag to fall, but it had caused the hood of the other person's cloak to fall from the person's head.

"Sh-Shalimar?"

Shalimar's mouth fell open, forming into an 'o' shape.

There before Shalimar Fox, in the full flesh and blood, stood a woman. Black stiletto heels hugged her feet, while a knee length black skirt slid around her waist and down her legs, fitting her curvature perfectly. A black cloak drifted all the way to the ground and gently blew in the soft night breeze, while the large black hood stuck out behind her neck. The woman had a shimmering tan and just past shoulder length dark red hair. A small black bundle, cradled in her arms began to wiggle and whimper. "Bailey, shoosh," she woman breathed.

Shalimar Fox couldn't believe her eyes as she choked out her next word, "Emma?"


	2. The Adam's Family

A/N: This is a play on the T.V. show, "The Addams Family." 

**Prince Halliwell**: Aww, you did find this fic! I know, it is strange. Emma is dead...or is she?

**Delauro**: Thank you for such enthusiasm! It really compels me to keep going with this. :)

**irismoon**: I really love stories with description as well. I try my best to keep as much sensory detail as I can within my fics.

**bohemianbabe**: Thanks for taking the time to review. I'm thrilled that you're enjoying it so far. :)

**Mony19**: I agree, Emma was a brilliant character. I've always had a fetish for fics where Emma and Lexa meet, though. So naturally I had to bring her back for season 4, which they should've had.

**Elemental Psionic**: I agree and they never even gave her a good send off, no goodbye or anything. Emma did not deserve that.

**4.02 _The Adam's Family_**

"Oh my God," the redhead breathed. Her warm brown eyes registering a series of emotions. She wanted to throw her arms around her long lost best friend, but the smallbundle in her arms kept her from doing so.

"Emma, is that-is that really you?"

"It's me,"the red haired psionicsaid. Reaching out her hand, she took Shalimar's hand in her's to show that she wasn't an illusion or a hologram.

"But how?" Shalimar squeaked, hoping that if this was a dream that she'd never wake up.

"I can't explain now, we have to find the others. Do you know where they are?"

"Yes!" Shalimar nodded, entwining Emma's fingers in her's. She didn't want to let her go again. "This way, this way." But as they turned the corner, they were stopped by a man who materialized seemingly out of nowhere.

"Fox!" The man held out his hand and a streams of fire shot from his fingertips.

The bundle in Emma's arms wiggled as the black blanket around her dropped. It revealed the body of a small child. She had a head of reddish-brown hair and bright hazel eyes. Suddenly the spray of fire reversed and impaled itself into the man, setting his clothing ablaze.

A globe of glowing white psionic energy appeared above the psionic's head and it went flying straight into the man's forehead, knocking him out cold. "Come on," Emma urged.

Shalimar ran ahead of her psionic friend, heading down a dark corridor that was only illuminated by a flickering light next to one of the motel rooms. "This one," she said as she kicked thepeeling blue doorand caused it to fly open. She was immediately met with a glittering flash of blinding white lights, forcing her to stumble back into Emma.

Emma shielded her and the baby's eyes, with the side of her black cloak, until the lights dissipated. When she brought her arm down, she faced three figures; two of whom were all too familiar and the third was someone she'd read about, but now was her first real meeting. Or would be.

Brennan Mulwray stood on Lexa's left, swirling his hands together as electricity spit from them. But as soon as he caught sight of the face behind the cloak, the electricity vanished from his hands.

"Em?" Jesse echoed Brennan's thoughts. His face was as white as they come.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Emma grinned.

Small lasers danced from the tips of Lexa's fingers. "What's going on?"

"Emma's back," Shalimar said.

Lexa shook her head furiously, causing her brown hair to whip around her face at mad speed. "Emma DeLauro is dead." She pointed a finger at the psionic, sending a laser centimeters from Emma's forehead. "Who are you?"

"Lexa, no!" Shalimar screamed.

The baby in Emma's arms wiggled her fingers and Emma's attacker went flying down the corridor, landing harshly against a dumpster.

"Honey, no!" Emma whispered, putting a hand over the child's small fist and tucking it back under the black blanket that she was wrapped in.

"B-bad!" The child cooed, her gaze in Lexa's direction.

"What the hell is going on here?" Brennan asked, looking from Lexa and back to Emma or at least the person that looked the spitting image of her.

"We have to get going, Shal and I have already been attacked."

"We're not going anywhere until we get some answers," Brennan quickly decided as he crossed over to Lexa and helped her to her feet.

"Then let's make this quick," Emma spat as she trudged past the cracked door, courtesy of Shalimar's foot.

Shalimar brushed past the molecular, sticking to the so called Emma like glue.

"I don't trust her," Lexa hissed as she brushed Brennan away and walked into the room after Jesse.

"I want answers." It was Brennan. He stood guard in the broken entrance, in case anyone decided to come after them.

"I've been looking for you since The Helix blew up," Emma admitted.

"How did you know about that?" Jesse asked, not knowing which way to turn.

"Adam programmed an alert, in case it came down to that. I haven't been able to track you since."

"Then how did you find us now?" Jesse asked, bewildered.

Emma narrowed her mocha eyes at the four group members. "Someone activated their comlink, it was faint, but it was enough."

Jesse, Shalimar, Lexa, and Brennan exchanged looks. They'd all agreed to turn off and keep off their comlinks, so they couldn't be traced by the people who'd taken Adam.

Lexa's eyes quickly shot back to Emma's. "I think the real question we're all wondering is, how are you here when you're supposed to be dead?" As the last word left her tongue, the room filled with a deafening silence.

Emma opened her mouth and when she spoke, her voice was lowered. "We're not in a secure location."

"She's right," Shalimar suddenly said. "We have to know before we can trust you." It was a shock to everyone.

Hurt flickered in the psionic's eyes. "Because of Bailey."

"What?" The Mutant X members chorused.

"Bailey," Emma said as she peeled away the black blanket from the child in her arms. "She needed to be protected and the only way to do that was to fake my death."

Shalimar raked her hands through her long locks. "B-but who is she? Where did she come from? Why does she need to be protected?"

"She's a mutant."

"A new mutant?"

"No, she was one of the few who was born a mutant," Emma replied.

Jesse's eyes sparkled as he looked at the child, Bailey, with extreme interest. He had once discussed mutants having children with Lexa, who'd detested the idea and said that they were not natural and there for they should not have children.

"Where are her parents? Why can't they protect her?" The questioned belonged to the electric elemental.

"We are protecting her," Emma shot back.

"What?" Shalimar and Jesse asked.

"Bailey is my daughter," Emma informed. "Mine and Adam's daughter. Bailey DeLauro Kane."


	3. Rosa Redhead

A/N: This chapter is a play on the thriller, "Rose Red." 

**Delauro**: Wow, thank you so much. With reviews like that, I'm growing much more enthusiastic about this story!

**Prince Halliwell**: LOL Jesse reacts very much like you in this chapter.

**Mony19**: Aww, I'm sorry. I've never been an Emma/Brennan fan. But I will tell you that even though things will be rocky for Brennan in the beginning, he will warm up. He just doesn't want to believe it's Emma, because he doesn't want to think about loosing her again, if that makes sense.

**irismoon**: We are a rare breed, aren't we? I have always been a Brennan/Shalimar shipper, but I danced with who I liked Emma with. At first I thought it was Jesse, but when Lexa came into the picture, I really liked the Jesse/Lexa pairing. But then I read a blessed fanfic where Adam and Emma were paired and wow! I've been hooked on Emma/Adam ever since! I mean, it just seems to work so perfectly.

**bohemianbabe**: lol I don't think it's that she doesn't like Lexa, per say. But Lexa was distrust and tried to harm her mom, so Bailey was just trying to protect Emma. And as far as Adam goes, I haven't written that far in advance yet, so I'm not even sure when he'll appear yet. But I can promise you that he'll show up before the finale (there will be 22 chapters, like a normal season).

**RJF**: You reviewed! You reviewed! You have absolutely no idea how happy I was when I woke up sleepily this morning, trudged into my Mom's room, and then checked the reviews on my cell phone while I waited for the computer to load! I know! They really should've come back with a season 4, I was so sad when it ended. And with Emma being the one to die, it leaves so many possibilities for her to return in fics. I mean, she was a master at mind manipulation/illusion, who's to say that she couldn't of staged her own death with a simple thought? So yeah, I had to bring her and the rest of them back. Actually, there is a reason for Shalimar's temper. But uhm, heh, I'm not gonna give too much away. ;) Now for your review of chapter 2, yep, Bailey's a little telekinetic. Yep, I miss 'em too. But I did like Lexa's powers. And it waskilling me! I was like, "Don't v-v-v-vanquish!" _Charmed_ is all I've ever known, magical show wise. It was really hard. Haha, I didn't think about that symbolically, but I think it's hilarious that you thought of that. And as I told irismoon, I'm a very avid Emma/Adam fan...You should read some of those rare fics, they're so cute! lol I'm also huge on Lexa/Jesse and Brennan/Shalimar, as you've seen me exclaim in your fics. Hint, hint.

**EternalFire-angel**: Wow, thank you for taking the time to comment. They really inspire me.

**shyferel**: Aw, thank you. I really don't understand why they couldn't of kept it going for at least another season either, it was a brilliant show. But what really irks me, is that they couldn't even give the fans closure when they did end it.

**4.03** **_Rosa Redhead_**

"You and Adam!" Brennan bellowed, his voice rocketing the eardrums of everyone in the room and probably the rooms on either side of him.

"We don't have time for this!" Emma hissed, narrowing her eyes and sending a psionic globe of power into Brennan's head and knocking him out. "Get him and follow me."

Shalimar crossed over to Brennan and dropped to her knees at his side. "Why?" She pleaded, looking to Emma and back.

"Because, this isn't safe for anyone. We have to leave, now!"

"Sanctuary is gone, Emma! It's exploded! We have no place to go!"

"I do, but we need to get you on Rosa, in order to get there."

"Rosa?" The light elemental inquired.

"Let's just call it, an upgraded Helix." Emma waved her hand, moving Bailey onto her other hip. "Hurry up."

Jesse was about to help pick up Brennan, when the feral stopped him.

"I've got it, Jess," Shalimar said defiantly. She scooped up the electric mutant with super human strength and nodded her head at Emma. "Where are we going?"

"This way," Emma replied as she left the room and headed down the long corridor at a pace just short of jogging. A thin layer of raised bumps shooting across her exposed skin from the sheer cool air rushing past her,as she went along.

----10 Minutes Later----

"So this is Rosa?" Jesse asked, strapping a navy blue belt around his waist. He was gawking at the ship, which was currently in stealth mode. It was twice as large as The Helix, it also contained six seats, and a two control panels.

"Actually, Sub Rosa," Emma replied.

"As in a synonym for 'secret'?" Lexa asked, still distrusting of the psionic mutant.

"Yes," the redhead answered as she walked over to the main pilot's seat and bypassed it, walking over to the corner of the ship and setting Bailey into a small seat and strapping her in.

"This even has a car seat?" Jesse gaped.

"No, Jess, does this look like a car to you?" Emma quipped, handing her daughter a pacifier and then easing herself into the pilot's seat. "Is everyone strapped in?"

"Just one minute," Shalimar said as she strapped a still knocked out Brennan into a seat and then secured herself.

The psychic mutant pressed a few buttons and then pulled a few levers, before a low rumble hushed the people in Rosa and the giant government shielded plane lifted from the ground.

"So where exactly are we going?" The feral asked, looking curious to her long lost best friend.

"Nevada."

"Nevada?" Jesse and Lexa echoed.

"A secret underground chamber. I've kept it running since-since..." Her voice trailed off as she shifted her gaze to her daughter.

"Adam?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah." Emma shifted Rosa into auto pilot and twirled her chair to stare at Bailey, who was steadily beginning to doze off.

"How old is she?" Shal asked, gazing at the tiny reddish-brown haired child.

"Almost a year," Emma DeLauro answered. "I was about a month along when Adam and I staged my death. We knew that everyone would be after her if they found out."

"So she's a telekinetic?" Jesse asked, remembering how Lexa had been hurled down the corridor at the motel when the baby had wiggled her fingers.

"Yep, a telekinetic." Emma grinned. "She's so powerful! Much better than the partial telekinetic powers I have."

"Yeah, you never mastered those ones very well. You were always better with things that had to do with memory," Shalimar noted.

"Only when my emotions run high," the telempath agreed.

"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you and Adam..."

Emma laughed. "It was bound to happen sometime, Shal. We were always working so closely together and one night, we just got really close.."

"O-o-okay!" Jess flailed his arms. "We don't have to go there," he said as she clamped his eyes shut trying to keep the mental picture of Emma and Adam in an intimate moment out of his mind.

"How exactly did you find us?" Lexa asked.

Emma's empathic abilities were picking up extreme distrust and splashes of dislike from the light elemental. "Like I said, someone activated their comlink and one of my scientists was able to trace it."

"We agreed not to activate those," the feline feral said as she looked at her fellow Mutant X members.

"I haven't touched mine," Lexa replied defensively.

"Nor have I," Jesse shook his head.

"I know I haven't touched mine," Shal said as she turned her attention to the passed out electric mutant. "Why would Brennan?"

"It wasn't him," Emma spoke up suddenly.

"How do you-"

"None of you did."

"Then-"

"Adam," the redhead murmured. "He must've been able to activate it from where ever he's being held."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a psionic, Jess. If it wasn't any of you, and I would know if you're lying, then it had to of been him. He's encrypted the activation codes on all of our rings."

"Our rings?" Shalimar choked.

"Our rings," Emma grinned as she produced the small comlink on a silver chain that hung around her neck and concealed under her shirt.

"But we-"

"Left that on the side of the mountain?" Emma chuckled. "Yeah, let's just say that getting that thing out of there was almost not worth it. Anyway, as I was saying, he's encrypted activation codes into the rings. If none of you did it, then he's the only one able to access them."

"Unless someone corrupted him or forced their way into his mind."

"The signal was brief, just long enough for my team to pick up on it. If it had been someone wanting to do you harm, they wouldn't of deactivated it so quickly. It had to of been him."

"Mama!"

Emma's head whirled around, her short red locks flicking across her face like wisps of fire. "Sweetie?" She cooed, unstrapping herself and walking over to Bailey. "Hey baby," she said as she plucked her daughter from the seat. "How ya doin'?"

Bailey giggled, tugging at the comlink around Emma's neck.

"Oh Em, she's adorable!" Shalimar squealed, momentarily forgetting about the crisis at hand and focusing on the adorable child that her best friend and ex mentor had produced. She slid from the restraints of her seat and crossed over to Emma and Bailey. "Can I?"

Bailey giggled and reached out expectantly for Shalimar.

"She likes you," Emma grinned as she released her daughter into the feral's arms.

"Good Goddess," Shal grinned. "She's the spitting image of you!"

"She has Adam's nose," the telempath pointed out.

Shalimar snorted. "Well, at least she didn't get his jaw line."

Before the psionic could reply, a neon orangelight began to blink on the dashboard of the ship. "You had better sit down, we'll be landing in a few moments." She scooped her Bailey Kane from Shalimar and sat her back in her safety seat, before taking her own space in the pilot's chair. "Brace yourselves, this runway isn't all that smooth," she said asRosa began to descend.


	4. Haven On Earth

A/N: This is a play on the phrase, "heaven on earth." 

**Delauro**: Thank you!

**Prince Halliwell**: Of course! Emma is a part of Mutant X, a permanent part. Nor will Lexa be disappearing (no pun intended) permanently.

**Marie Crosby**: lol Yeah, Emma just wanted to protect him. There is a lot of Bren in this chapter, I hope you're pleased.

**Mony19**: Ha, I know. You'll see a lot of Brennan and Emma's struggling relationship, but don't worry, I know exactly how the finale will end and it's good. ;)

**bohemianbabe**: Aww, thanks!

**EternalFire-angel**: That's awesome! Thanks for taking a moment to review, I hope you enjoy!

**4.04** **_Haven On Earth_**

One blink, then two, followed by a few soft moans signaled that the electric elemental was stirring. His dark eyes began to shift from side to side and he could feel that his entire body felt nearly immobile. The mutant craned his neck to the side, his vision blurry from the shear power of Emma's psionic blast. Unfortunately it wasn't much help, all he could see was dark shadows and a few neon numbers, his ears however picked up the soft humming of some type of machinery. He attempted to move his lower body again, but as he'd become more aware, he realized that he was being strapped down. _What's going on?_ He thought warily, struggling with his restraints. Then his eyes shifted upwards and he saw a dark ceiling. _Where am I?_ And with that thought, the previous events came flooding back to him.

_**----Flashback----**_

_A resounding crack of brittle wood filled the room and the door of the motel room burst inwards._

_Lexa thrust out her arms, running at the door while releasing a dazzle at the intruders._

_"What the hell?" Jesse yelled, jumping from the bed and running ahead of the electric and out the door after the light elemental._

_Following his partners' lead, he too dashed out into the corridor between the motel rooms. As he looked around, he could see someone shielding his or herself with the side of a flowing black cloak. He walked over, taking a fighting stance on Lexa Pierce's left and began to swirl his hands together, generating powerful electrical charges. He saw his fellow Mutant X member, the feral, tumble back into the cloaked figure and once Lexa's dazzle had vanished, his face registered complete shock and the electricity vanished abruptly._

_"Em?" Jesse echoed Brennan's thoughts. His face was as white as they come._

_"You look like you've seen a ghost," Emma grinned._

_Small lasers danced from the tips of Lexa's fingers. "What's going on?"_

_"Emma's back," Shalimar said._

_Lexa shook her head furiously, causing her brown hair to whip around her face at mad speed. "Emma DeLauro is dead." She pointed a finger at the psionic, sending a laser centimeters from Emma's forehead. "Who are you?"_

_"Lexa, no!" Shalimar screamed._

_The baby in Emma's arms wiggled her fingers and Emma's attacker went flying down the corridor, landing harshly against a dumpster._

_"Honey, no!" Emma whispered, putting a hand over the child's small fist and tucking it back under the black blanket that she was wrapped in._

_"B-bad!" The child cooed, her gaze in Lexa's direction._

_"What the hell is going on here?" Brennan asked, looking from Lexa and back to Emma or at least the person that looked the spitting image of her._

_"We have to get going, Shal and I have already been attacked."_

_"We're not going anywhere until we get some answers," Brennan quickly decided as he crossed over to Lexa and helped her to her feet._

_**----Flashback----**_

"Brennan?"

Brennan opened his eyes, gazing into Shalimar's coffee colored ones. "Shal?" Again, he attempted to move his arm to touch her soft features, but something was keeping him at bay.

"Shh, shh," the feral soothed as she slid onto the bed next to him and ran a soft hand across the side of his face.

"Where are we?"

"Haven."

"What?"

"We'reat The Haven, Bren. It's okay."

"What happened? How'd we get here?"

"Emma knocked you out with her psionic blast..."

Brennan stared at the blonde feral's mouth, it kept moving, but his mind was still fuzzy. _Emma..Emma? A psionic blast?_ This couldn't be true, the elemental was sure of it. Emma DeLauro had died in the Naxcon explosion. They had wheeled her dead body away. Her arm popping out from under the sheet as they did so and her comlink falling off. Shalimar had been hysterical. They'd made a memorial for her on the side of the mountain, it was where they'd left her comlink. Surely this had to be a dream, some cruel joke, an illusion.

"Bren, are you okay?"

Brennan could feel Shalimar's warm skin against his cheek again. He closed his eyes, absorbing the warmth from her hand. It was, he realized, cold as well as dark where ever he was.

"He's awake, Emma, he's awake!"

At the mention of the psionic's name, Brennan Mulwray's eyes flashed open again. This time the lights shown brightly into his eyes, forcing his pupils to become several times smaller. But that didn't startle him, what did was seeing an all too familiar face framed by dark red hair and an innocent pair of eyes.

_**----Flashback----**_

_As a young Brennan Mulwraytravels through a loud and vibrant nightclub crowd, a terrified young woman collides with him. He locks eyes with the young woman, horror written all over her face. The electric elemental could tell that there was something different about her, something pure and wonderful. He wanted, needed, to get to know her._

_Unfortunately before the elemental could get a word out, the short haired woman with themystifying eyesjetted out of the way, trying desperately to find safety from whatever was after her._

_**----Flashback----**_

"Brennan?"

The voice of the redhead before him was the same, just as the electric had remembered it. But really, it couldn't be her. She died! It's why Lexa had come to them, to reconstitute Mutant X. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at the psionic.

"Maybe we should remove the restraints? I really think he was just in shock before," Shalimar reasoned as she gently rubbed the elemental's arms. "Please, Em?"

Emma nodded solemnly. She hadn't liked the idea of strapping Brennan down, but she'd been afraid that if she hadn't, his emotions may of overwhelmed him and she had a daughter to think about now. "You're in the infirmary, Brennan. You've been out since my psionic blast." She freed his left ankle from the leather strap on the bed and moved the right. "My emotions were running pretty high back there and I think I hit you with more force than I had intended. You've been out since yesterday." She moved to one of his arms as Shalimar worked on the other. "I'm sorry about this, but it was the only way. Time was of the essence. Shal and I were already tracked once on the way back to the motel room and I couldn't risk them raiding the place." She walked over to a pristine white sink and grabbed a soft white wash cloth and began to run it under cold water. "I've brought you back to my home, Haven."

"We've all been waiting anxiously for you to wake up," Shalimar added as she ran her hand across his forehead. "You were stirring for quite a while, even letting off some electrical discharge a few hours ago."

"Just relax," the telempath said as she came back and proceeded to lay a cool cloth across the elemental's forehead. "I can feel your senses slowly reverting back to normal and as long as you take it easy, things will be just fine."

"Do you remember anything?" It was the feral again. "Anything at all?"

Brennan closed his eyes, leaning his head back into the paper covered pillow on the bed.

_**----Flashback----**_

_Lexa's eyes quickly shot back to Emma's. "I think the real question we're all wondering is, how are you here when you're supposed to be dead?" As the last word left her tongue, the room filled with a deafening silence._

_Emma opened her mouth and when she spoke, her voice was lowered. "We're not in a secure location."_

_"She's right," Shalimar suddenly said. "We have to know before we can trust you." It was a shock to everyone._

_Hurt flickered in the psionic's eyes. "Because of Bailey."_

_"What?" The Mutant X members chorused._

_"Bailey," Emma said as she peeled away the black blanket from the child in her arms. "She needed to be protected and the only way to do that was to fake my death."_

_Shalimar raked her hands through her long locks. "B-but who is she? Where did she come from? Why does she need to be protected?"_

_"She's a mutant."_

_"A new mutant?"_

_"No, she was one of the few who was born a mutant," Emma replied._

_Jesse's eyes sparkled as he looked at the child, Bailey, with extreme interest. He had once discussed mutants having children with Lexa, who'd detested the idea and said that they were not natural and there for they should not have children._

_"Where are her parents? Why can't they protect her?" The questioned belonged to the electric elemental._

_"We are protecting her," Emma shot back._

_"What?" Shalimar and Jesse asked._

_"Bailey is my daughter," Emma informed. "Mine and Adam's daughter. Bailey DeLauro Kane."_

_"You and Adam!" Brennan bellowed, his voice rocketing the eardrums of everyone in the room and probably the rooms on either side of him._

_"We don't have time for this!"_

_Brennan stared helplessly as the redhead hissed the words at him and then narrowed her eyes and a psionic globe of energy came flying at his head. It was all so sudden and then he felt the psionic energy pummel his body, before everything went black._

_**----Flashback----**_

"Is he okay?" Shalimar asked, pulling the psionic to the corner of the white room as she stole a few glances back at him.

"He's fine," the telepath assured her best friend. "But he's confused, especially about me. He keeps having flashbacks."

"Is there anything you can do to ease his mind?"

Emma shook her head. "I think it's better if I leave him alone for a while, so he can take it all in. In fact, I should probably leave the room. When he's ready to talk, he will."

Shalimar raked a hand through her thick locks. "Should I go?"

"No, I think it would be very beneficial for you to remain with him."

The feral nodded in compliance before returning to her man's side.

Emma smiled, slipping out the door of the infirmary unnoticed.

----

Jesse clasped his hands over his eyes. "Where's Bailey? Where's Bailey?" His voice was high and singsongy as he spread out his finger and rolled his eyes. "Where's Bailey?" He whipped his hands from his eyes and pointed to the little hazel eyed child. "There's Bailey!" He grinned like a child on Christmas morning.

Bailey clasped her hands together and giggled wildly. "Boo!" She wiggled her fingers at a white blanket with Winnie the Pooh on it, a few feet from her. The blanket drifted into her awaiting arms and she tugged it tightly over her head.

"Uh oh, I think we just lost Bailey again!" The molecular said, pretending to be confused as he cupped his hand over his brown and moved his head from side to side, pretending to search for the little telekientic.

"Ahh!" The telekinetic squealed, yanking the blanket from her head and throwing up her arms.

"Having fun, Jess?"

Jesse spun around to see Emma hovering in the doorway, her arms folded neatly across her chest. "Yeah, she really likes peek-a-boo."

"And apparently so do you," the psychic mutant smirked.

"Well what can I say?" Jesse leaned over and began to gently tickle the little girl. "With a face like this, who cannot love finding it?"

The corners of Emma's mouth curved in as she walked over to her old friend and her daughter, plopping down on the floor next to them and sitting with her legs crossed. "You've always been great with kids, Jess. The real fatherly type. I've always loved that about you."

"Yeah, well, I can definitely say the same about you." The molecular laughed. "Minus the fatherly type, ya know?" He watched as the little psionic pulled the blanket over her head again. "I always knew you'd make a great mom, I just never thought it'd be with Adam."

"Life's funny sometimes," the redhead agreed as she squinted her eyes. "Where's Bailey?" She cooed, patting her hand on the ground around the child and pretending not to know where she was. "Is she here?" She asked suddenly, pulling up a brown teddy bear.

"Guess not," Jess frowned. "What about here?" He asked, peeking behind Emma.

"Don't think so," Emma frowned. "How about..."

"Here!" Jesse exclaimed, pulling off the blanket to reveal Bailey squealing with delight. "God, she's cute, Em!" He commented, gazing at his old friend.

"She is."

Emma's head whirled around to see Brennan leaning against the door frame. "But?"

"We need to talk," Brennan said, cutting to the chase. His arms were folded tightly across his powerful chest and his eyes cast a steely gaze upon her.

"I think we all need to," the psionic suggested.

"We will, but right now, it's just you and me."

Emma pulled to her full height, ready to comply with her old friend's request. "Okay, I suppose I owe you at least that much."

"At least," Brennan scoffed as he turned on his heel and left the room.

Without another word, the psionic followed his path out.

----

Lexa Pierce sat alone in her new bedroom. It was double the size of her old one at Sanctuary. Plane, though. Apparently Emma had decided not to make it homey, as she wanted Lexa to express her own tastes. She heaved herself from the bed and walked over to a small desk, pulling out a blue and black office chair, and seating herself closely against the desk. She traced her slender fingers along the edges of a brand new, top of the line laptop and then flicked it open and placed her fingers along home row. Her lips pursed together and her face registered complete concentration. She narrowed her eyes as she accessed the Internet and then typed in a series of secret codes and passwords, before finally typing in the word, 'Naxcon.' She was going to find out just what really happened during that explosion and what other secrets Emma and Adam were hiding from her and her team.


	5. Must Love Ferals

A/N: This is a play on the new movie, "Must Love Dogs." Sorry this took so long to write, the end isn't very good. But I was just a little stuck with the ending. I'm sorry, I don't have time to do replies this time, but I'll get them next time! Thank you for reviewing though! 

**4.05 _Must Love Ferals_**

Shalimar trudged into the pristine kitchen in Haven. The carefully placed blue and white tiles felt terribly icy under her bare feet as she shuffled across the smooth floor. Her dark brown eyes were glassy and her usually thick, flowing hair was stringy and soaked with sweat. The feral's usually rosy cheeks and vibrant peaches and cream complexion had been replaced with chalky white coloring. The feline feral's lips appeared dry and cracked as she staggered to the kitchen sink and grabbed a navy blue coffee cup from the drainer. She looked longingly at the coffee pot and then her glassy eyes shifted to the refrigerator. The soft, cotton floral robe that she wore drug quietly behind her as she reached her destination and flung open the fridge, quickly scanning its contents before retrieving a large bottle of apple juice.

"Shal?"

Shalimar shoved the refrigerator door closed and saw Lexa standing in the doorway. "Lex? What're you doing up so early?"

"My God," Lexa gasped. "You look terrible!"

"It's nothing," the feral replied defiantly as she poured the mug to the brim full of the golden liquid.

"You and I both know that is a load of shit." The light elemental walked briskly over to the feral and snagged the bottle of juice from her hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Putting you back to bed," came the heated reply as the elemental grabbed the feral by the arm and started to pull her from the kitchen.

"Let go of me, Lexa," Shalimar hissed.

"You aren't strong enough to fight with me right now, Shal."

"I really don't have time for this.."

"You look like hell."

Shalimar's eyes flickered and her head dropped closer to her chest as she leaned more of her weight onto the table. Her bony hands trembled as she wrapped them around the whole of her coffee mug, bringing the chilly mug to her lips and began to gulp down the juice.

"I'm getting Brennan," the elemental replied as she turned to leave the kitchen.

"No!"

Standing with her back to the feline feral, Lexa's eyes shifted into tiny slits. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You're assuming-"

"Am I?"

"And why would I be?"

"You tell me."

The blonde took another slow sip of her apple juice, allowing the cold liquid to sit in her mouth a moment before sliding smoothly down the back of her throat. "I won't let you tell him anything."

The brunette swiveled to face the feral again. "Okay, if you go back to bed, we'll pretend this never happened." She held out a strong hand.

The blonde grasped Lexa's hand, her usual strength gone, and gave it a mild shake. She slapped the empty mug back down on the table and quietly left the room, leaving Lexa alone to wonder what was going on with the blonde.

Lexa looped her index finger through the handle of the mug and let it dangle on her finger. "What are you hiding, Shalimar Fox?"

----

"Shh, it's okay, baby." Emma was pacing anxiously around her room with a wailing child on her left hip. Surely her daughter's crying would've woken up all of Haven by now, but the psionic had used her highly advanced abilities to create the illusion of a peaceful quiet so that the rest of Mutant X could sleep peacefully.

Bailey's small face was beat red and her brown-red hair was matted to her face with salty tears. Tiny fists flung and her body trembled in her mother's arms.

Emma had been tempted to use a psionic blast on her daughter for several hours now, but she was afraid that if she attempted to tap into the young psionic's mind, she might be over come by Bailey's violent stream of emotions. Or worse, she might upset her daughter even more. So she remained pacing and occasionally humming quietly to the screaming child. Then a loud shattering pierced Emma's ears. Turning towards the sound, she saw a small golden frame slumped against the wall and a pile of shattered glass on the floor. "Oh baby," she sighed as she walked over to the broken picture and grabbed it, a small shard of glass slicing her finger as she did so. "Mmm!" The redhead placed her finger to her mouth in a desperate attempt to stop the crimson flow of blood. She bent down again, this time grabbing the photo successfully and staring intently at it. It was a picture of her and Adam, his arm looped lovingly around her petite waist, it had beena happy time long since past. In the picture, they were standing on a beach and the picture had captured the water lapping up at the edge of the sand.

The child's crying softened to a whimper as she too caught sight of her grinning parents in the picture. She wiggled a tiny fist and mentally tugged at the photo, before her mother finally gave in and allowed it to drift softly into her pudgy palm. "Momma," she gurgled as she traced the picture with her free hand.

"And that's-"

"Daddy," Bailey grinned before depositing a sloppy kiss directly onto the photo.

Emma's mouth hung open slightly. It was the first time that she'd ever heard her daughter say, 'daddy.'

----

Brennan shifted uneasily in his new bed, violently ripping from side to side and tearing the covers out. Something was bothering him and he couldn't place his finger on it. It had been two weeks since he'd come to Haven and something just wouldn't let him rest. Although he and Emma had talked, he was still avoiding her as he still wasn't sure how he felt about things. It just didn't seem real for him. The electric elemental pulled a fluffy white pillow from his face. His eyes had deep, dark circles under them and stubble had begun to grow darkly on his face as he'd stopped shaving.

_**----Flashback----**_

_"So you never died?" Brennan Mulwray asked again._

_Emma DeLauro shook her head. "No, Bren. I'm here, I have been since Naxcon. The only reason you remember my death so vividly is because I used my powers to make you remember it, so you wouldn't have any doubts."_

_"So you made an illusion of your own death?" The elemental ran a hand over his hair. "So you mean to tell me, that this here and now could also be an illusion?"_

_The psionic's face was solemn. "Yes."_

_"How am I suppose to tell what's real from what isn't?"_

_"You can't," the redhead relented. "You'll just have to trust me."_

_**----Flashback----**_

Apart from keeping away from Emma, he'd noticed that Shalimar had been keeping away from him and Lexa was once again keeping her secrets. Which only left Jesse, but Brennan had realized he couldn't talk to him once he'd saw Jesse playing so happily with Bailey. The elemental let out a ragged breath as he rolled over and slapped his feet onto the carpet. Clothed in a white muscle shirt and blue boxers, he lumbered to his bathroom and clicked the door closed.

----

"Emma! Brennan!" Jesse's frantic voice bellowed through the eerily quiet hallway as the blonde male bonded down it. He stopped at Emma's room, banging his fist tightly against the door. "Emma! I just got something on the radar. One of the safe houses is being raided!"

The door flew open and the redhead, complete with the baby on her hip, tumbled out. "What?" Her voice was panicked.

"Yeah, it was one of the feral houses." The molecular grabbed his friend by the arm and pulled her down the hallway from whence he'd came, wrapping on the rest of the Mutant X teams' doors as he went. "Hurry up! We've got a problem!" He yelled, before disappearing around the corner with Emma and Bailey.

----20 Minutes Later----

Lexa walked into the room, her eyes narrowing in on Jesse. "What's going on?"

"Where's Shal and Brennan?"

"Brennan will be down in a few minutes, Shalimar isn't feeling well."

"Well she-"

"I said, she isn't feeling well." Lexa cut in, her voice like ice. The elemental was dressed in a deep purple halter and a pair of brand new black jeans, topped off with a pair ofblack onyx slingback heels, andher chocolate brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail.

The molecular slid into the main chair and pulled himself up to the control panel, typing rapidly and bringing up a large holographic screen. "Look, all of those red dots are safe houses spread out across the United States." He pointed to a blinking red light in Las Vegas. "That's a feral safe house and it's just been raided. We need to get down there now, to see if there are any survivors. Or at the very least, to see if we can find out who did this."

"We know who did this," Lexa spat.

"Jesse's right," Emma replied, ignoring the elemental. "I'll go dress Bailey and I'll meet you guys in Rosa."

Lexa threw up her arms in exasperation. "I'll go tell Shalimar."

"What's wrong with her, Lex?"

"You'd have to ask her," the light elemental replied before she fled the room.

----

As Brennan pulled a pair of worn blue jeans over his legs, he heard a knock at his door. He secured the zipper and button. "Come in," he called as he slipped off his shirt and grabbed a royal blue cotton sleeved shirt.

"Meet us in Rosa, we're heading to Las Vegas."

"What?"

"That's where the feral safe house was broken in to."

"Thanks," Brennan mumbled as Emma shut the door. He quickly ran a brush over his head and grabbed his comlink from the corner of the dresser by his bed. With Emma's advanced technology, Jesse had been able to reconfigure the comlinks so that they couldn't be traced. With that, he headed out the door.

----5 Minutes Later----

Lexa rested her head in her hand, her elbow propped up on the arm rest as she peered out of one of Rosa's windows.

"So where exactly are we going, Jess?" Emma asked, glancing at him from the co-pilot's seat.

Jesse switched Rosa into auto-pilot, grabbing four printouts from a bag next to him, and handing them to his teammates. "Those are maps of the safe house and the surrounding areas." He once again reached into the bag and pulled out a large rolled up sheet. "These," he said as she unrolled the paper, "are the floor plans of the safe house. From what I can see, it was raided by the east entrance."

"Did you download the video surveillance footage?"

"It was cut," the molecular answered.

"Wonderful," Lexa's sarcastic voice cut in.

"Do we really need your sarcasm right now?" Brennan hissed.

"Guys!" Jesse threw a daring gaze towards the warring elementals. "We don't have time for a standoff."

Lexa pursed her lips and returned her attention to the window.

Brennan slouched back in his seat, refusing to look at any of them. His thoughts returned to Shalimar. _Why didn't she come?_

"We're here," Jesse said as a rumbling noise forced Sub Rosa to the ground, still in stealth mode.

"Which way should we go?" Emma asked, getting up and unhooking Bailey from her baby seat.

"Maybe you should stay here?" Jesse suggested, glancing to Bailey.

"No, I'm coming with you," the redhead shot back as she followed Lexa and Brennan off the craft.

Jesse let out a soft moan, as he got ahead of his teammates and led them to the south entrance of the safe house. "I think we should go in here." He was about to proceed, when he left Emma's hand on his chest. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to scan the place with my powers," the telempath replied as she closed her eyes and began to search the house for any trace of life. She frowned as she opened them. "It feels like there may be someone in there, but it's faint."

Brennan waved his hand, motioning for everyone to step back. He swirled his hands together and then released a telsa coil at the door, causing the thick wooden door to explode inwards into a mound of wooden shards. Then he headed on inside.

"Stay with me," Jesse said as he grabbed the psionic's arm.

"Jess-"

"No." Jesse's word was simple, but final. He refused to allow Emma to die 'again,' and he refused to have Bailey go down with her.

Aghast at the scene, Lexa's hand flew to her nose and mouth. The thick stench of fresh blood and death permeated her nostrils. Her eyes were wide, staring at the bodies of the dead feral mutants that littered the floor.

"They were obviously searching for something," Emma noted as she stared at the ransacked safe house.

"Where's the life force that you sensed?"

"This way," Emma said as she stepped over a pile of debris and crossed into a room where the door was only half on.

"It looks like a kitchen," Jesse said as he followed her inside. Pots, pans, and broken chairs littered the floor. Blotches of food stained the walls and a stove burner was bright red, as it had been left on. He walked over and turned off the stove. "I don't see anyone in here, Em."

"This way," the psychic mutant replied as she grabbed the door handle of another door and opened it to reveal it led out to a backyard. Her hand flew to her mouth as her powers over powered her with pain. Dropping to her knees with Bailey in her arms, tears began to dribble from her dark eyes.

"Emma!" Jesse knelt down and embraced the emapth. "Where? What's wrong?"

The redhead pointed a finger towards a pile of debris. "O-over there, someone's alive," she gasped.

Lexa walked over to the pile and began to hurl the debris away, before she felt Jesse's strong hand on her shoulder.

"I think I have a better idea," Jesse said as he placed his hand on the pile and concentrated on phasing the entire pile.

"Thanks," Lexa mumbled before walking through the pile and then coming back moments later with the near lifeless body of a young woman. She laid the woman on the ground, as Jesse removed his hand from the debris. "Can you talk?" She asked, wiping a piece of bloodied hair from the side of the woman's face.

"Th-th.." The young woman started to shake violently as blood dribbled freely from the sides of her mouth. "S-suits.."

"Suits?"

"Let me.." Emma said, walking over and handing over her daughter to the molecular. "Shh, it's okay," she breathed as she sent a psionic blast into the woman's forehead. A flood of images ran through her mind as the mental scenes from what happened at the safe house, from the woman's perspective, passed over her. She opened her eyes to find the woman at peace, her physical pain gone due to Emma's power, allowing her to die peacefully. She wiped away a streak of black tears from her eyes. "It was horrible.."

"Hey!"

Brennan's head whirled around to see a group of men in the suits that were immune to their powers. "We've got trouble!"

"I thought you said nobody else was here?" Lexa snapped, pulling to her feet.

"Lex, now is not the time!" Jesse warned, as the group of men pulled out some type of special gun.

One of the men aimed the gun at Jesse and Bailey, shooting off what appeared to be a glowing bullet.

Bailey lifted her hands into the air and Jesse floated several feet into the air, over the bullet. Since Bailey had been in his arms, it had saved her too.

"Thanks," Jesse whispered to the little girl as he felt his feet touch the ground again.

"If only we had Shal here," Lexa grumbled as she launched herself into a spin kick and sent one of the agents into the side of the safe house. As she landed, a crack was heard, and she dropped to the ground. "Shit!"

"Lex!"

"Keep them away!" Lexa screeched, grasping her hand on her wounded ankle.

"Get Bailey out of here!" Emmayelled to Jesse.

Bailey narrowed her eyes and themound of debris that Jesse had phased earlier went pummeling at the band of agents, flinging them in all directions.

"Well," Jesse breathed. "They may be immune to our direct powers, but they aren't immune to objects thrown by our powers." He raced over to Lexa and held out his free hand. "Come on!"

"Jess-"

Bailey wiggled her pudgy fingers and Lexa began to hover in mid air.

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's get out of here!" Brennan hissed, leading the way back into the destroyed house and following their path back out to Rosa.

Jesse followed Brennan, still holding the baby telekinetic.

Bailey cooed, leaning over the molecular's shoulder with her tiny fists clenched as Lexa floated behind them, and her mother trailed behind Lexa. As Jesse reached Rosa, the child allowed Lexa to drop softly onto the ground.

Emma scooped Bailey into her arms and boarded Rosa.

Jesse grabbed Lexa, much to her displeasure, and carried her aboard.

The resounding clink of bullets against the side of the craft, echoed inside as everyone seated themselves, and Jesse took the shift to the air. Handing over control to Emma, Jesse left his seat and knelt down next to Lexa.

"Ow! Jess!" She screamed, slapping his hand away.

"I think you twisted your ankle," Jesse said as he slid the black slingback off her foot. Pointing an index finger at the missing heel on the shoe.

"Great!" The elemental's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Those were new, too."

"I'll never understand why you guys would rather hurt yourselves than just wear sneakers," the blonde grumbled as he peeled back the cuff of her black jeans and gently touched her slowly swelling ankle.

Lexa's face contorted in pain as she flinched back.

"Sorry," the molecular gave a sincere face. "Em, what kind of medical supplies do we have on here?"

Emma shifted the plane into auto-pilot and slid past the duo, grabbing a first aid kit from a shelf and handing it to Jesse.

"You have a craft like this and all you have for injuries is a simple first aid kit?"

"We don't have an infinite budget, Jess," Emma retorted as she knelt down next to Lexa. "Where does it hurt?"

Lexa narrowed her dark eyes. "What do you care?"

"Lex.."

Lexa pointed to a bluish spot on her foot. "That's the worst," she complied at Jesse's request.

"It looks like it's sprained," the molecular noted.

"Here," Emma said as she ignited a psionic globe atop her forehead and sent the ball into Lexa's head. "Does that help?"

Lexa placed her hand on her ankle. Although the brunette would never admit it, the pain was nothing more than a tickle now, even if Emma's psychic painkiller was only temporary. "No."

Emma rolled a pair of bright eyes. _I'm emapthic too, you know._ She mentally replied as she walked back to her seat.

"We should probably head back to Sanctuary."

"No!"

The male Mutant X members exchanged looks, they hadn't expected the same outburst from both the psionic and the light elemental, let alone in perfectunison.

Emma's face flushed. "We can't leave," she lowered her frantic tone. "The agents are still here and from what I saw, they were searching for something. Or someone." She pulled Bailey into her lap. "And there's still another feral safe house in the city."

"Where?"

"Just past The Strip," Lexa replied.

"How do you-"

"Doesn't matter," the light elemental replied. "We need to get a hotel and start a search. I'll let Shal what's going on."

This time Brennan tried to reason. "But we-"

"I don't care."

"She's right," Emma replied as she lightly bounced her daughter on her knee. "We have to take care of the new mutants first. We can't let them kill like that again." One handedly, she turned Sub Rosa around.

"Vegas, here we come," Brennan murmured as he peered out the window.

----

Shalimar pulled a soft turquoise cardigan over her head, slipping her arms into the soft sleeves. Although Haven was hot right now, she felt so cold. Unfortunately she couldn't ignore the faint cries that were ringing in her sensitive ears. Just like dogs have the ability to hear other dogs and various other faint sounds that normal people can't, the feline feral was able to pick up the cries of fellow ferals and they were terrified. Maybe it was her power advancing? The blonde shook her head furiously as she applied some color to her face, as she couldn't very well walk around looking like death. The feral slipped her feet into a pair of simple brown clogs to match her knee length brown and blue-green cottonskirt. If she'd been thinking clearly, she would've realized that clogs were not the best to wear if you were planning on fighting the government in a sickly state. Grabbing her purse from the door, she gave the room a once over before heading out with the distant feeling that she was possibly forgetting something. As she shut the door, the force of the slam caused a tiny silver ring to tumble off the end table and land just under the shadow of her bed.


	6. What Mutates In Vegas, Stays In Vegas

A/N: Sorry guys, I got about half way through this chapter and then I wasn't sure how I wanted to conclude it (it's more of a filler chapter), then my Mother and I got in a fight and she started restricting my internet time. This is a play on, "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." 

**Prince Halliwell**: That was an uploading error that I realized about 20 minutes after I posted it, so I replaced the chapter, but I guess it took a while to show up and hadn't by the time you read it. Sorry about that.

**Mony19**: Yeah, Bailey is gonna be really powerful as she is Emma's daughter as well as part of the next generation of Mutant X. She won't be invincible though.

**Ruffyan**: Hmm, all good possibilities. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we? ;) Thanks for taking a moment to review!

**bohemianbabe**: Only time will tell. ;)

**EternalFireangel**: Shal's problem won't be revealed for a while and that's all I'm saying. ;)

**chyp**: Hey, thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you were able to find _Mutant X_, it really was an awesome show! I can't wait to get it on DVD myself (I've been looking in stores and online, I'm also putting them on my Christmas list, lol). And of course I'm anxiously awaiting the brilliant _Charmed_ S2 as well!

**4.06 _What Mutates In Vegas, Stays In Vegas_**

****

"Are you sure this is it?" Brennan asked, as he maneuvered his way around a pile of children's toys.

"That's the third time you've asked that," the molecular retorted as he jogged up the cement steps of a quaint apartment in the run down part of the world's fastest growing city. The blonde folded up his map with one hand and shoved it into his back pocket, before knocking roughly on the door three times with the other.

"Maybe they're not home?" The electric elemental suggested after waiting several minutes.

Jesse knocked again, waiting a moment before jiggling the handle. "Hello?" He frowned, placing his hand over the door knob and the knob turned into a jumble of fuzzy molecules. Now that the latch on the door was also phased, as the entire knob subjected to Jesse's power, the rest of the solid door swung open since nothing was there to keep it in place.

"Nice way to be inconspicuous," Brennan noted as he slid past his teammate and into the apartment. Placing his hands to his mouth, he called out again and received no answer.

Jesse shut the door as he walked in, the light getting significantly dimmer. "I guess they aren't big on sunlight?"

"Maybe they're a bunch of bat ferals?" The elemental suggested, jokingly.

"Haha," Jesse grumbled as he darted into the next room. "Is anybody home?"

"Jess, I re-" Brennan stopped mid sentence as the blonde's hand clamped over his mouth.

"Do you hear that?" Jesse asked, his voice lowered several notches.

Brennan shook his head as Jesse's hand slid off of his face.

The molecular crossed over to a tiny closet in what appeared to be the main room of the apartment. Cautiously, he opened the door to a dark room barely big enough to fit one person in.

"You're over reacting," Brennan snorted when he saw that nobody was there.

Jesse narrowed his eyes, dismissing the retort and began to rifle through the hanging coats.

"Really Jess, what are you looking for?"

The phaser slid to his knees and began to move a few small boxes out of the closet. Satisfaction lit up his face as he found a small black mat over the floor, which had been hidden under the boxes. He removed the mat to find a square shaped door in the floor. "I knew it," he grinned in triumph.

"What?" Brennan asked, peering over his comrade's shoulder.

"This leads under the apartment," Jesse said as he unlatched the door and swung it back, revealing a small passage way.

"You're forgetting something, smart man. If somebody was down here, they couldn't of been up here to fix everything over the hole."

Jesse frowned, he hadn't thought of that. But he was sure that he'd heard something. "Why don't you go check the rest of the apartment and I'll check down here anyway?"

The elemental shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, Jess." With that, he stalked off in the direction of the tiny kitchen.

----

"Thanks," Shalimar murmured as she slid out of the back of a cab and shielded her eyes from the glaring sun. She shoved a thick wad of green at the cab driver and turned on her heel, marching towards the location that her teammates had visited just two days prior. The feral swiped sweat from her brow as she slunk into the shadow of the house and wriggled uncomfortably against the side of the wall until she was sure that the cab driver was gone. She whipped a rolled up map out of her pocket and groaned as she was pricked with static electricity from her clothes. The blonde was not having a good day. Narrowing her eyes, she studied the map for a moment before sneaking around the side of the house and heading for the nearest entrance. She could already smell death.

----

"Do you mind?" Lexa glowered at the small tot. She had her leg propped up on a series of hotel pillows and the brunette was leaning her back uneasily on the headboard.

Bailey thrummed her chubby fingers against the carpeted floor and continued to stare inquisitively at Lexa.

Something about having a child not yet a year old staring at her every move really frustrated the elemental. Her eyes shifted to the ceiling, a blank white ceiling. She heaved a sigh. It was just her luck. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Bailey was now sucking happily on her thumb, but the child's eyes were still fixated on her. "For the love of..." Then a thought crossed her mind. _Maybe if she can't see me, she'll go away?_ A tight lipped smirk slid across her rosy lips and in a bright glimmer, she literally faded from view.

Bailey plucked her wet thumb from her mouth and blinked a few times. "Hewo?" She narrowed her tiny eyes and patted her hands on the ground.

_Go. Just go._

Bailey slapped playfully at her leg and began to giggle, before slapping her hands over her eyes as she'd done when she was playing with Jesse. She spread out her fingers, allowing her to peek through them. "Boo!"

_Good going, Lex. Now she thinks you're playing with her!_ Lexa frowned to herself, although the telekinetic couldn't see it.

"Boo!" Bailey cooed again, stumbling to her knees and crawling over to the edge of the bed. The baby wiggled her fists and the ruffle of the bed leaned into her grasp where she used it to pull herself to her feet and stretch up at the top of the bed, unfortunately she wasn't tall enough to reach it. A fat lip protruded from her face. "Go bye bye?"

The invisible mutant placed a hand to her forehead, she didn't need to be a psionic to know what the little girl was about to do.

Bailey tugged at the left strap of her white, corduroy overalls. Her tiny eyes turned glassy and her lower lip began to tremble just like small objects tremble during a good earthquake when they aren't secured.

"No!" Lexa squealed, reappearing for the child to see. "I don't have time for this!"

Bailey blinked gleefully at Lexa's bright return, clapping her hands together. "Boo! Boo!"

"Boo hoo," the illuminator snorted sarcastically. Clearly, this was going to be a long mission.

----

From the other side of the wall, Emma DeLauro grinned in satisfaction. She didn't blame Lexa for her feelings, after all, she did just show up out of the blue to reclaim her position in Mutant X. She couldn't blame any of them for their feelings towards her and especially towards Adam for the lies and deception that they spread. Pressing her ear slightly to the wall and listening intently, a small smile graced her lips. _But maybe if Lexa, of all people, could accept Bailey...Then there's hope after all._

----

Shalimar bent low to the ground. She'd pulled her flowing locks back into a loose blonde ponytail. She ran her tongue across her dry lips and dabbed her finger in a pool of dark red goo that almost looked like drying paint. She knew all too well that it was different though. With this amount of blood, surely it's owner couldn't be alive. She blinked back the salty water behind her eyes and stood up. _Just what had they been looking for?_ Heading down a hallway filled over turned chairs and trash, the feral made it into another room. It was that of an office type interior. Unfortunately the once new computer held a gaping hole with sparking wires and black smoke pummeling from it. Wooden splinters from the broken door cracked under her clogs and the stench of death hung cruelly in the air. Blood spatter lined the cream colored walls and broken glass glinted in the pale light from the bent and broken blinds. She gave a small shudder as she walked over to a mound of smoldering ashes. "Papers," she breathed as she shoved them from side to side, hoping to find anything that might be of use to her. Nothing. _What were these?_ She wondered to herself, narrowing her eyes and attempting to make out any of the writing. Then she gaped as she reached a paper in the center of the stack. Apparently the fire hadn't reached its very center. Several names were scrawled across the readable portion of the paper along with a type or more of animal. "Their records," she realized suddenly. "These papers must have noted the ferals that lived here!"

----

Jesse cupped his hands over his mouth. "Hello?" Glancing down at his shoes, he noticed that they were now covered in a thick layer of yellowish dust as he'd been shuffling around under the apartment for about ten minutes. "Is anyone here?"

"Jess, it's clear up here!" Brennan's voice boomed from the opening.

"I'll be up in just a minute," the molecular replied as he started to turn around. But as he did so, a small rustling sound caught his attention. Turning on his heel, he crossed over to a darker part of the dusty area. There he realized several wooden pillars were standing together, not spaced out as the others that helped to keep the apartment in place were. _I knew it!_ Jesse mentally yelled as he heard a low breathing sound. The blonde quickly phased through the border of wood and discovered a small group of people huddled together.

A small scream elicited from a tiny child who buried his head into his mother's arms.

A six foot man shoved his way in front of Jesse, spreading out his arms in front of the group. His eyes flashed silver for a moment, challenging the molecular.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" Jesse promised, holding up his hands in surrender. "I want to help."

"He's telling the truth," a quiet voice from the back spoke up.

"Liv-"

"I can read him, John." A small woman emerged from the shadows, behind the group. Pink irises eyed Jesse as the ghostly white figure with thin locks of shoulder length white hair moved towards him. The tiny woman appeared to have slightly pointed ears and little pointed nails, as she held out a hand to take Jesse's.

The large man seemed to relent, taking a step or two back, but still eyeing the molecular suspiciously.

"I'm Livern," the pink eyed woman whispered hoarsely.

"Jesse," the blonde said as he shook Livern's hand.

"I know." Her pale lips formed a weak smile. "I have psionic and albino feral genes," came Liv's explanation. She allowed her almost clear eyelids to close and the wall of boards came falling to the ground as her psychokinetic hold on them fell.

_So that's how they did it, she used psychokinetic abilities to make it appear as if they'd never been there._ Jesse concluded, everything finally beginning to fall into place. All except for why feral safe houses were being raided and others left untouched.

"So many questions," Liv said as she placed a tiny pale hand to the side of her head. "I think they're looking for someone."

"Someone? Like who?"

"Like the most powerful feral," Liv answered. "I couldn't read them, they wore suits. But I could see their damage in my mind's eye and I know of what they did to the others. We've all been mutating rapidly lately and I think they want to find the most powerful and contain that mutation.."

_The most powerful?_ Jesse's mouth became dry and a lump formed in the base of his throat. "Shalimar!"


	7. Vive Lex Vegas

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for such a long delay. I've had mounds of homework and a huge writer's block (I've only been updating my _Charmed_ fic because I had a creative surge a few weeks ago and pre-wrote about five chapters of it). Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. This is a play on, "Vive Las Vegas". 

**Obulet-dragon-Fury**: Aw, I'm glad you think so. I know I took a little risk with the Emma/Adam thing, because there aren't too many of those fans out there. But nevertheless, thanks for giving it a chance! 

**Cassie**: Oh, I'm sorry I didn't get this up earlier for you. Are you any better? 

**Tunder28**: lol Right now. 

**Prince Halliwell**: Aww, don'tcha just love that kid? Thanks for reviewing! 

**bohemianbabe**: Really? Knowing that really gives me an enthusiastic boost! 

**Mony19**: Actually, I'm hoping that Bailey might be able to soften Lexa's outer shell. But I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

**EternalFireAngel**: Thanks for the encouragement. :) 

**chyp**: Thanks. 

**Freckles-101**: I know exactly what you mean! I love stories with both Lexa and Emma! I wish they could've met on the show! 

**Whirlwind-2005**: Yep, Adam's lil' baby girl! I just adore the Emma/Adam pairing, it's the only thing that really fits. Thanks for taking a moment to review (three times, lol). It means a lot and I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much! 

**4.07 _Vive Lex Vegas_**

Lexa stared blankly at the keyboard in front of her. It'd been a week and they still hadn't had contact with their feral Mutant X member. Emma had even gone to the point of trying to track her telepathically and all she'd received was a crackling sound and small painful cries in the background, similar to when a radio is caught between two stations and you pick up static as well as bits and pieces of two different stations. She glanced over at her swollen ankle, which was resting on a large white pillow. The brunette hated to feel left out. She preferred to be in charge and what was worse, was that Emma was taking charge. She raked a hand through her wavy, mocha locks. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted another screen pop up. 'You have mail!' Lexa maneuvered the mouse over the screen, clicking on her mail box. She gaped for a moment, before clicking on the new e-mail and reading its contents. 

During Lexa's moment of distraction, Bailey had crawled into the room with a curious look upon her angelic face. On all fours, she made her way over to the bed and tugged at the edge of the comforter as she'd done every day since Lexa had hurt her ankle. She liked to see Lexa's funny reactions to her being there and sometimes Lexa would even disappear. "Boo!" 

Lexa whipped her head around, having not yet finished the mystery e-mail. "Bailey! No, shoo!" She flicked her wrist towards the door, but to her dismay, the baby telekinetic refused to budge. "I don't have time to mess with you, kid!" 

Bailey protruded a fat, pink lip and fluttered her eyes. "Boo?" Again, she tugged at the bed, pulling herself up next to it. 

Lexa stared distantly at the child and then whipped her head back to the screen, looking over more of her e-mail. Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to Bailey. "Bailey," she questioned, "would you like to help me find Shalimar?" 

Bailey rubbed her nose and tugged at the comforter again. 

Lexa leaned as far back as she could, whipping out her arms and grabbing at the tot. 

Bailey giggled and grasped Lexa's awaiting hands, allowing the elemental to pull her onto the bed. 

---- 

Wisps of thick, fowl smelling tobacco smoke permeated the air, mixing with the already lingering body orders and a massive array of booze. The thumping of hard rock slammed the eardrums of the room's occupants. Several grimy, wooden tables dotted the room, each encircled with burly leather clad bikers and several rounds of frothy golden beer. A large bar stretching from one end of the room to the other, made entirely of dark wood and covered with rings from bottles which hadn't been left on coasters. A small, white T.V. flickered above the bar, where a newcaster rambled about something which everyone had known about the night before. "Two beers," the bartender drawled, sending two beers flying down the line. 

Suddenly the front door swung open, leavinga resounding smack as it hit the wall, revealing a gorgeous blonde. She narrowed her coffee eyes, clearing intent on finding someone. Her two inch heels against the stone floor were reminiscent of water against ice. A tight, navy blue skirt tugged at the curvature of her waist and a small white tube top adorned her upper body. She clicked over to the center of the bar, snatching the center seat, and propping her elbows onto the counter before her. Shalimar Fox clicked her fingers. "Hey buddy, over here!" 

The bloodshot bar tender cocked his head in the feral's direction, smirking at the sight. "Hey doll," he drawled, "there's a joint a few doors down." 

"A joint?" Shalimar flicked a piece of golden dawn hair from her face. "I don't believe I'm lost." 

"I'm thinkin' I agree, Bo." One of the leather dressed biker's was now behind the feral, laying a heavy hand on the nape of her neck. "I'm sure she was lookin' for me, right doll?" He plucked a ten from his back pocket and slid it into the top of Shalimar's skirt. " 

Shalimar whirled her, grabbing the biker by the arm and pinning him to the side of the bar, twisting it until he yowled in pain. Quick as lightning, she shoved him to the ground and tossed the ten back into his face. "Any questions, Bo?" She asked, looking coyly at the bartender. 

"Wh-who ya lookin' for?" Bo stuttered, his hand shaking as he held a bottle of Whiskey. 

Shalimar pulled a small photograph from the back pocket of her mini and held it up to the quivering man. "You seen this person?" 

Bo shook her head, backing away from the feral's acid gaze. 

"Are you lying, Bo?" 

Bo shook his head again, his yellowish teeth clattering as he did so. 

"I think you are," Shalimar drew her tongue slowly across her dry lips. "So..." She raked her nails across the bar, leaving five deep gouges in the finish. "I'm giving you a choice: we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. It's up to you." She stared curiously at Bo, but she got no response. "Fine, the hard way." The feral curled her hand into a fist, slamming it into the center of the wood. A blast rocketed the bar, causing a Bloody Mary to coat the yellowed wall and a Sex on the Beach to shatter on the floor, along with allowing several beer bottles to fly in every direction. Wooden splinters flew everywhere and a massive imprint of Shalimar's fist was left in her wake. She leaned across the bar and grasped Bo's collar, pulling him to her face. Her finger grazed his face, wiping off a puddle of beer that had soaked him. "So, the picture?" 

Bo's eyes shifted to a stairway that led to the second levelof the bar. His tongue felt like lead, as he tried to speak. 

Shalimar shoved back the useless bartender, pocketing the picture once more. "Thanks," she hissed, before strolling towards the stairs. "And by the way, don't call me doll." 

---- 

"Bailey?" Emma flicked on the light in her room, scanning the area for her daughter. "Bailey, sweetie, where are you?" She placed her hands squarely on her hips. "Bails?" The psionic closed her eyes. She checked the whole of Haven, except of course, Lexa's room. She closed the door and padded down the hallway. "Bailey, how many times have I told you not to go disturb Lexa?" She called, stopping at the closed doorway. She knocked once, no answer. She knocked again, still no answer. The psychic mutant narrowed her eyes, grabbing the handle and jiggling it, finding it to swing open for her. "Lexa?" Traveling inside, she gave the room a quick once over. "Bailey?" A small glow caught her eye and she traveled over to the bed, seeing that Lexa's computer was still on. She noticed that the Interner icon was outlined, meaning that it had been the last thing opened. "Lexa?" Still, she got no answer. Emma opened the Internet, waiting a moment for it to fully load, before clicking her mouse onto the down arrow on her address bar. "She checked her e-mail last," she noted as she stared at the Internet History. Her eyes shifted to the e-mail link, showing that Lexa's e-mail was blank. Emma clicked it anyway, clicking on 'Old Mail' and then clicking the first e-mail which was dated the current date and labled, '(no subject)'. Her eyes registered shock and confusion, as she mentally read the wording. "Oh no!" She leapt from the bed, hurrying out of the room. 

----10 Minutes Later---- 

"What are we doing?" The molecular fastened his seatbelt and pulled back one of Sub Rosa's many levers. 

"Finding my daughter," Emma replied, her voice stern and focused. 

"Would you mind telling us what's going on?" Brennan asked, as he felt himself tugged back into his seat as the craft rose into the air. 

"I think Lexa took Bailey to go find Shal." 

"How would she do that?" Brennan asked. "She can't even walk right now and besides, she and Bailey don't even get along, to say the least." 

"And how'd you come to this conclusion anyway?" Jesse asked curiously. 

"It doesn't matter-" 

"Yes it does!" Brennan focused his eyes on Emma. "You and Adam have kept far too many secrets from us! There's no way you're going to get us to help you unless you're up front with us!" 

"Brennan, this is not-" 

"No, I think now is the perfect time! You know, Emma, I used to trust you. I loved you." The elemental closed his eyes. "When Adam wasn't there, you were. When we thought you died, you have no idea how much pain we all went through. But that doesn't compare with how much hatred I'm feeling right now." His husky voice lowered. "You deceived us all in the worst possible way. You made us all suffer. You're just like Adam." 

Emma stared at the elemental, speechless. The redhead turned to Jesse, her eyes pleading with him. 

Jesse lowered his head, turning away and focusing his full attention on the control panel. 

---- 

Shalimar pulled through an glass door, landing harshly against a dumpster. A small trickle of scarlet ran from her forehead and a dark, blueish-purple bruise had risen on her left cheek. She moaned, staggering to her feet and jumping to a fighting stance as another figure leapt from the shadows of the room in which she'd just been exspelled from. 

"You domestics, you're all the same," the shadowy figure said boredly. Jet black waves coursed from her head all the way down to her knees and she wore formfitting black clothing, giving the illusion of the classic bank robber. Her lips seemed to blend in with the night, as they too were Midnight black and her nails were long, ebony points as well. She had dark chocolate skin, definitely of African descent. But her dark brown eyes quickly flashed a radiating orange, as she advanced on the blonde feral. 

Shalimar leapt into a spin kick, sending a series of swift heel jabs into the Panther feral's abdomen. 

The Panther feral grinned, pointed white teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "You think that will phase me?" She grabbed Shalimar's ankle, flinging her into the ground like a ragdoll. She laughed wickedly, leaning over Shalimar's battered body and brandishing her sharp black nails. Suddenly a beam of searing white shot into the Panther feral's back, sending her about three feet away. The smell of burnt hair filled the air, enough to make someone want to vomit. 

Shalimar shifted to her side, moaning at the pain in her abdomen. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out a figure inside the dark room and as things cleared, she could see that the figure was hovering about an inch off the ground. The feral looked up, noticing a small and yet familiar face peering at her from the older woman's arms. "L-Lex?" 

Lexa seemed to glide over to Shalimar, her feet never touching the ground. "We need to get you home," she said, bending over to grab Shalimar and heave her over her shoulder. She cocked her head, glancing sideways at Bailey. "How're you doin', kid?" 

Bailey cooed, twitching her nose and telekinetically turning Lexa around, before moving them back towards the path in which they came. 


	8. Cry Me A River Of Blood

A/N: I've had a severe lack of inspiration for this fic, as the long delay proves. I hope you guys can forgive me. I'll try to get back into the swing of things during the next few months.

**4.08 _Cry Me A River Of Blood_**

Jesse pressed his face to one of Sub Rosa's many glass windows. It was cool against his sweaty skin. For him, the last week without Shalimar had been a flood of emotions. He kept remembering how things had been when Emma had 'died.' They were took high above the city to see anything but puffy white clouds and the blue of the sky. As he stared at them in a daze, a familiar conversation drifted into his mind.

_**----Flashback----**_

_Livern winced as she lowered her body onto the sofa._

"_Are you alright?"_

"_I'm fine," the albino feral-psionic assured. "I'm just more touchy that most people are. The albino genes make me more sensitive to physical things, while my psionic genes make me more susceptible to the emotional." She smiled regretfully. "It's not a good combination, if you know what I mean."_

"_Look…" Jesse shifted uncomfortably. "You were talking about the most powerful feral mutant. Do you think you can tell me any more about her?"_

"_Her?" Livern chuckled. "What makes you so sure that it's a her?"_

"_Because I know her," Jesse blurted out._

"_Jess!"_

"_What?" Jesse flicked his eyes in Brennan's direction. "We have to tell them something if we want to learn about why they're killing ferals!"_

"_It's not a her," Livern suddenly spoke up. "The most powerful is not a her."_

"_So then it's a him?"_

_Livern nodded in confirmation._

"_Who?"_

_Livern's almost see through, white lids shut over her pink irises. "He's unnamed right now."_

_Brennan clenched his fist. "Can you quit with the cryptic double talk?"_

_Livern ran a hand through her snow white hair. "I think you may want to talk to her. Shalimar, is it? I believe she has information that may prove useful to you. If, of course, you can find her."_

_Brennan cocked his head at her last statement. "What are you talking about?"_

"_Just what I said."_

_Blue sparks ignited on his fingertips. "I said-"_

_John's eyes flashed a deep orange, and he stepped between Brennan and Livern. "I think you should leave."_

"_Not until-"_

"_Brennan." Jesse placed his hand over Brennan's shoulder. "Let's go."_

"_We need to know what she's talking about!"_

"_We need to talk to Shalimar."_

"_But-"_

"_Let's go." Jesse's stomach was spinning like mad. He coaxed his partner to the door and gave a thankful nod in Livern and John's direction, and then he left._

**_----Flashback----_**

For the life of him, Jesse couldn't understand who this mysterious male feral could be. As far as he knew, Shalimar was the most powerful feral mutant ever recorded. Unless, of course, this other feral hadn't been recorded. _Maybe he was more top secret than Shalimar? Could he have been part of the first Mutant X team that Lexa claimed she was in?_

----

"How the hell did you find me?" Shalimar Fox groaned. She leaned up against the back of a cement wall. With her left hand, she held a soggy blue washcloth to her forehead and with her right, she held a cup of chamomile tea.

Lexa titled her head cockily. "I have contacts, remember?"

The feral glared. "Why do you always have to be so secretive, Lexa?" She touched the side of her severely flushed cheeks.

"You're sick," the elemental observed. "We need to get you back to Haven."

"Where are we now?" The blonde inquired.

"Someplace temporary…"

"Lexa!"

"Shh. You need to preserve your strength." The brunette shifted uncomfortably. She wouldn't tell Shalimar, but her ankle felt like it was on fire. On some level, she was wishing that she'd chosen never to leave Haven in the first place. On the other, she knew that she'd gotten there to save her friend in the nick of time. Her and Bailey, that is. Lexa Pierce twisted her head in the direction of the child. _Maybe_, she mused, _the kid isn't so bad after all._ She laced her fingers together, studying the little girl.

Bailey Kane perked her head up, feeling Lexa's eyes on her. She blinked her sparkling hazel eyes sweetly. "Boo?"

Lexa's interest plummeted. "Kids," she groaned. The elemental held up her hand, motioning to the child. "Bailey, c'mere."

"What're you doing?" Shalimar peeked her eyes out from under the blue cloth and watched as Bailey crawled over to Lexa. She would've smirked, had she not been feeling so awful. The blonde moved the ceramic cup to her lips, and lapped at the tart, golden liquid. It had no sugar, and she hated tea without sugar, but Lexa had insisted that since she'd taken the time to get some from a nearby Safeway, that Shalimar had to have it. The feral had been too tired to protest.

"We need to get out of here."

"Try telling me something I don't know."

"Before I can do that, I think you need to tell me about what I don't know."

"What're you talking about?"

"Why were you out here in the first place."

Shalimar pulled the cloth back over her eyes. "I don't have time for this."

"Shalimar-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it!"

Bailey quivered under the noise. She grabbed at the collar of Lexa's shirt and held on, whimpering softly.

"Shit! Now look what you've done," Lexa growled. She patted the child softly. "C'mon, kid, stop the crying. Shalimar's just having a bad day." She frowned, realizing her tactics weren't working. She patted Bailey's back in a vain attempt at comfort. "Come on now, nothing's wrong."

"Oh hell, Lexa. Do you not know anything?" The weakened feral scampered to her feet, and drug her body across the room. She tossed away the cloth and knelt down next to the child, which she gently wrapped her arms around. "Come here, baby. Come to Auntie Shalimar." She kissed the top of Bailey's silken red hair, and massaged her shoulders. "I'm sorry for yelling, sweetheart. Do you understand?"

Bailey's pink lip trembled under Shalimar's brunette gaze.

Shalimar's heart melted. "Oh sweetie…" She pulled the child close, and stroked her hair. "I didn't mean to scare you, honest baby girl."

The light elemental snorted irritably. "You sound almost as sappy as Emma."

Shalimar glowered. "Well you could be nicer to her, you know. If it wasn't for Bailey, you wouldn't even have gotten to me!" She sent a quirky glance at Bailey. "You don't happen to know how she found me, do you?"

Bailey opened and closed her mouth several times, and then blew a spit bubble in response. She blinked in all her innocence.

The feral sighed. "I didn't think so." She rubbed the tot's head and held her close. "Where's everyone else?" She suddenly asked, only beginning to wonder why Emma, Brennan, and Jesse hadn't followed. Her eyes flickered. "Wait a minute! They don't even know about this, do they?"

Lexa chewed her lip. "Well…"

"You took Emma's daughter without asking her!" It was more of a statement rather than a question. "I can't believe you did that! She's going to be furious! She'll…she'll probably send your ass flying into oblivion!"

"Like she could," Lexa snorted. Her dark eyes rolled back in her head, revealing the bright whites of her eyes. She looked almost demonic for about two whole seconds.

"We've got to get back to Haven." Shalimar blinked. "No. You've got to get back to Haven. With Bailey."

"And just where do you think you're going?"

"None of your business."

"You're sick," the elemental protested. "You can't just leave!"

"I have to!"

"You have to tell me what's going on!"

"Like you had to tell me how you found me? And where we are?" Shalimar Fox challenged. She set Bailey on the ground and pulled to her feet. "I've got to get going." She brushed her sweaty palm over her pink forehead, and headed for the only door in the room. It was rickety and wooden, full of miniature holes obviously caused by termites. _Where ever we are_, she thought, _it's definitely been abandon for quite some time._

As Shalimar reached the door, she realized something wasn't right. She placed a hand to the pocket of her dark skirt. Nothing. She touched the opposite pocket. Again, nothing. She placed her hand to her chest, knowing she couldn't have stuffed anything under the white tube top she was wearing. "What the…"

"Looking for these?"

The feline feral whirled around to see Lexa proudly holding up a clump of mostly burnt documents. Her face reddened. "How dare you!"

"Now I can tell these are names," the elemental began, "I just don't know whose. Or why you have them. Or why they are obviously so important to you." Lexa waved the papers temptingly. "Why don't you sit down and explain?"

"Lexa…" Her voice dripped with warning.

"Ah ah." A bright point of light appeared on the elemental's left fingertip.

"You wouldn't!"

Lexa's glowing fingertip neared the stack of papers, searing one of the corners and disintegrating it instantly. "How can you be so sure?" She motioned her head back to the floor, next to Bailey. "Now why don't you come over here?"

Shalimar clenched her fists and stalked back over to her fellow Mutant X teammate, and Bailey. She slipped to the ground and sat Indian style. "What do you want to know?" Came her lowly growl.

"You can start by telling me what they are."

Shalimar pursed her lips. "Ferals." She paused, collecting her thoughts. "Names of ferals that have been hiding underground."

"How did you find them?"

"I," she winced, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" The brunette didn't look convinced in the least. "I know you can give me a better answer than that."

Shalimar placed her hands to her head. Sweat was glistening on her brow again, and her hands were beginning to rattle. "I-I followed their cries!"

"You followed their cries?" Lexa's face wrinkled. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know!" The feral shrieked.

Bailey quivered, and clamped her hands over her ears.

"Okay, okay," the brunette soothed. She grabbed the fallen washcloth and dabbed at Shalimar's sopping head. "Shh. Okay. You don't know." She gently took the feral's wrist and led her hand away from her face. "What about them? Do you know why you were hearing their cries?"

"They were in trouble."

"How so?"

"I d-don't know. When I got there, they were all dead. Massacred." She took the cloth from Lexa and dabbed the back of her neck. "I think someone's after them. Specifically the ferals. Whoever it is, is targeting feral hideouts."

"Shal, you said that you can hear their cries." Lexa's brow creased. "Can you hear them now?"

Shalimar shivered. Her white tube top was blotchy with sweat, and sticking to her pale skin. "Y-y-yes."

"Where are they?"

The feral's nails dug sharply into her scalp, and she elicited a small scream. "I don't know!"

Bailey followed suit, emitting an ear piercing scream. Following her outcry, the entire room shook with telekinetic fury. Tears bubbled in her hazel eyes.

"Get a grip, Shalimar!" Lexa grabbed her friend by the wrists and shook her.

"Get away from me!" Shalimar growled. She tore away from the elemental's grasp, and jumped to her feet. Her eyes glowed dangerously. "Give me the papers."

"Shal-"

"Give them to me!" The blonde's had taken on a dark tone; extremely huskily. She poised her hand above Bailey, like a cat willing to strike.

"Oh-okay," Lexa murmured. She maneuvered her hand, edging the papers towards Shalimar's hands. As she did so, she shared a quick glance with the young psionic.

As the papers connected with Shalimar's fingers, Bailey's head whirled around and she narrowed her small hazel eyes. A stream of invisible, telekinetic energy pummeled into Shalimar and sent her sailing across the room. The charred papers fell in a light flurry around her head.

"Good girl," Lexa quietly praised. She collected the papers and kept a sharp eye on her friend as she did so. From her peripheral vision, she could tell that Shalimar was struggling to simply gain her boundaries. _What the hell is going on?_

----

"Are you sure this is the right place?"

Emma's knuckles were white as she pulled back on a level. Sub Rosa creaked as it landed on the hot, barren terrain. "I'm sure."

"How?"

"I have my ways, Jess." The psionic clicked her seatbelt and jumped to her feet. She moved quickly down the center isle, and the back door of the craft opened for her like peasants to their queen. She strode out of the jet in confidence. Her eyes narrowed. _Bailey's close._ The psionic could sense her child's psychic energy. It was faint, meaning she was still a ways off. She could sense Jesse come up behind her.

"Any luck?"

Emma dipped her hand into her back pocket, retrieving what looked like a small tin object, about the size and shape of a credit card. Turning it over, she revealed that it had a tiny computer screen on one side. "This'll track their comm links." She tapped the center of the screen with her nail, and it jumped to life. A small red dot appeared, followed by an arrow. "This way," the female mutant instructed. She took off in the northwest direction.

Brennan and Jesse shared quizzical glances, and then took off after their long lost partner.

----

Bailey clasped her hands together in excitement.

"What're you so happy about?" Lexa grumbled. She peeked over at Shalimar, who was still struggling against the noises in her head. She quickly turned back to the papers at hand. "Norman Russe, Amelia Souracough, Stanford Little…" The mutant squinted her eyes, trying to read through the burnt names. All she could make out was 'An'. _That could be anything! Annie, Andrea, Andrew. How the hell am I supposed to know?_

Without Lexa noticing, the baby psionic began to crawl away from her and towards the door. A goofy smile was plastered on her face.

"Hey Bailey-" A gasp escaped her lips as she looked up. "Bailey! Get away from Shal!"

The little redhead ignored the command, and continued on her quest towards the door. She made it just feet away from Shalimar, when the door blew off its rusted hinges, via a power telsa coil. She clapped her hands excitedly. "Mommy!"

The world seemed to slow to a halt for Emma. All she could see right now was her daughter. "Oh sweetheart!" She slid to the floor, throwing her arms around the baby psionic and pulling the child into her lap. "Thank god you're okay!" She kissed the child's silky red hair and stroked her pink cheeks.

Suddenly Emma's eyes lifted. She pulled to her feet, Bailey still in her arms. "You!" She pointed an accusatory finger at the light elemental. "How dare you take my daughter!"

"I had no other option-"

"Liar!" Emma's eyes glittered dangerously. "You had every option! You could've asked me, but instead you took a vulnerable child with you!"

Lexa curled a fist. "She's not vulnerable! You and I both know the kind of power she has!"

A glowing sphere appeared above Emma's forehead. "I'm warning you, Lexa Pierce, don't you ever take my daughter again."

Behind Emma, Brennan was on his knees, cradling Shalimar. He was softly stroking away her sweat soaked hair and fanning her flushed cheeks. "Shal?"

At that, Emma whirled around. Until now, she hadn't even noticed Shalimar. She gasped. "Oh my god!"

"Something's seriously wrong with her," Jesse intervened. He moved around Brennan, and touched the side of the feral's face. "She's burning up. We need to get her medical care as soon as possible." He looked at Lexa. "How did you find her?"

"It's a long story," Lexa spat.

"We don't have time for your cryptic answers right now, Lexa," Brennan hissed. "Shalimar's suffering, so cut the crap and tell us everything you know!"

"This is going to take more than a few minutes," the light elemental replied. She folded the burnt papers. "We should get Shal on board first."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"How did you even get here?" Jesse clarified.

Lexa's gaze traveled to the child in Emma's arms. "She's a telekinetic, remember?"

Jesse gawked. "You floated here?"

"In a matter of speaking."

The molecular sighed. "Well you're not floating back to Haven." He began to move towards her.

"What're you doing?" Lexa's eyes widened. "Jesse…"

"Sorry Lex, you got yourself into this…"

"Jesse!" Lexa squirmed, attempting to move backwards and away from him, but the pain in her ankle was too much. She bit her tongue to keep from crying out. It was a form of weakness in her mind. _So is Jesse carrying me!_

Jesse knelt down and scooped the struggling light elemental into his grasp, and secured her within his strong arms. Turning around, he noticed that Brennan and Shalimar were already gone. "We've got to hurry," he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

Emma shared another scowl with her replacement, and then turned swiftly on her heel and marched out of the room.

"You really pissed her off, Lexa." Jesse chastised. "And not only that, but you all could have been seriously hurt." He shook his head. "I can't believe you put Bailey in danger like you did." The molecular reached the door and stepped out into the glaring sunlight.

"Well if I hadn't gotten there at the exact moment I did," Lexa retorted, "Shalimar wouldn't even be alive! Maybe you should think about that before you go bitching at me next time."

"What exactly happened?"

"When?"

"When you found Shal."

"She was being attacked," Lexa paused, trying to remember the exact events. "I think it was another feral mutant. She resembled a panther, I think." Lexa absently chewed at her lower lip. "I hit her with a laser beam, and then the three of us got the hell out of there."

"What are those?"

"What are what?"

"Those papers." Jesse narrowed his eyes at her left hand. "The burnt ones."

"I don't know yet. I got them off Shal." Lexa bit her lower lip, wondering just how much she should tell him.

"You know more than that."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you always bite your lip when there's something you know you should be telling us, but aren't."

"I do not!"

The molecular just stared.

"Fine." Lexa waved the papers under his nose. "I think they're records. Shal said of feral undergrounds."

"Where'd she get them?"

"I don't know. But she did say she went to one of them, and she found them all massacred. She thinks someone is after them." Lexa raked a hand through her thick brown hair. "Or someone among them."

"How did you find her?"

"I have some contacts."

"Great."

"Don't whine, Jess. If I didn't, I wouldn't have found her in time."

"How did she end up out here anyway?"

"That's the strangest part," Lexa said, her voice much softer now. "She said she followed their cries."

"Followed their cries?" Jesse looked dumbfounded. "Whose cries?"

Lexa folded her arms as they reached Sub Rosa. "The ferals'."


End file.
